Real-time spectrum analyzers such as the RSA6100 and RSA3400 families available from Tektronix, Inc. of Beaverton, Oreg. trigger on, capture, and analyze RF signals in real-time. These instruments capture seamless blocks of data so that, unlike conventional frequency swept spectrum analyzers, no data is missed or lost.
These instruments have the capability to trigger on events which occur in the frequency domain. This capability, known as a “frequency mask trigger,” is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,103,402. The frequency mask trigger calculates the frequency spectrum of real-time data provided by the instrument's receiver system and then compares the frequency spectrum to a user-defined frequency mask. When the frequency spectrum violates the frequency mask, a trigger signal is generated which causes a seamless block of data representing the received RF signal to be stored containing the triggering event as well what happened immediately before and immediately after the triggering event. In this manner the frequency mask trigger waits for a single specific spectral event to occur.